Review of our Spring Break cruise on Carnival Dream

[silvercrikhix]

Paul:

 

I am enjoying your review and looking forward to more.

I thank you for continuing to be so kind as to spend your vacation time taking all these photos and then to produce your review after you return home.

Your review is helpful, insightful and gives others a chance to see things they may or may not want to try themselves.

 

I would also like to thank your DW-Karen and your 3 sons for the kindness they extend in letting all of us "participate" in your vacation. A lot of kids would be very displeased if their dad kept taking their picture and posting it on the internet. You and Karen have passed on your graciousness to your sons and I'm certain you are very proud of them. :D

 

The woman with the potty mouth is obviously very insecure and needs to draw attention to herself and now finds it necessary to attack someone who very tactfully pointed out some inappropriate behavior they had the displeasure of witnessing. A family beach is not the adult bar area. It's GREAT that your kids know enough to recognize that!

 

Again.....thanks to you and your family for sharing your cruise experiences with all of us here on Cruise Critic...............Keep 'em coming!!! :)

 

P.S. It would be great if you posted the ranting video on youtube!!!! We could all use more humor in our lives...but then again, why give her more attention....that's obviously what she wants.

[gaylensgigi]

I am really enjoying this review, we loved the Dream.And we just returned from the Legend, I agree, I would choose the Dream again.

I,personally love pictures of boring family vacations.

2 negative posts amid everything else,theres one in every crowd.Thanks for taking the time,Paul.

[Bunkie103]

I've loved your review and your "boring family pictures". I thought you did so well with the way you let your boys see how foolish people like the "lady" on the beach are when they act out and keep dropping the "F" word. They will no doubt remember that moment for a long time, and the lesson that goes with it.

 

Thank you for taking the time to share with all of us. I always reminded my own children in such instances the old saying "empty barrels make the most noise."

 

Today we hit "double digits":D

[The Klev]

Paul:

 

I am too loving your review.

 

I did the same Dream itinerary 2 weeks after you, but your pics bring a different perspective on the same ship and itinerary. I'm loving it.

 

Best,

 

Alan

[rzyjzq]

Paul - Great review and I am enjoying the pics. I cruise on the Dream 6/12 and am getting more excited every day!

 

Can you tell me if you made reservations for doing the zipline in advance or did you just walk off the ship and sign up?

Thanks!

Susan

[Naomi John]

Thanks for the review.

[poptart]

I keep checking back to see if there is anything new. With over 45,000 views I can tell I'm NOT the only one anxious for more.

 

Please? Pretty please with a ship on a stick on top?

[jimjamxx]

I keep checking back to see if there is anything new. With over 45,000 views I can tell I'm NOT the only one anxious for more.

 

Please? Pretty please with a ship on a stick on top?

 

Me too.

JimmyJames

[PaulMedik]

Thank you all for your kind comments and I'm sorry I've not been able to get the full review completed. Work is so inconvenient, but it does pay for my boring family cruises so I have to do it. :D

 

 

Paul - Great review and I am enjoying the pics. I cruise on the Dream 6/12 and am getting more excited every day!

 

Can you tell me if you made reservations for doing the zipline in advance or did you just walk off the ship and sign up?

Thanks!

Susan

 

rzjzq,

 

Thank you.

 

We signed up after arriving at their location just outside the port.

 

 

And of course I'll be looking for that video on youtube to share with my husband and kids...will you bleep out the bad words?

 

Blissed Out,

 

I'd wear out my bleep key if I did, but if I do end up uploading it, I will bleep out the bad words. There won't be much audio left after editing. :rolleyes:

 

One of the funniest things on the video is when a friend of theirs comes down and says to them that she wondered why they bragged earlier about how wild they were when all she'd heard them do was talk about their past experiences all day. It was one of those 'you have to be there' type comments, but she made a very good point that seemed lost on the F Bomb queen. :p I just hope that some future boring family cruisers won't have to listen to her recount how she set a record for F Bombs on her last cruise and then read about it on the internet a month later. :eek: It wouldn't surprize me to hear that's the F Bomb laced story she's telling over and over and over now. :D

 

I keep checking back to see if there is anything new. With over 45,000 views I can tell I'm NOT the only one anxious for more.

 

Please? Pretty please with a ship on a stick on top?

 

PopTart,

 

LOL, I'll do my best to get more completed, but Thrusday is the only day this week that I'm not working. :o

[Catrin]

Paul,

As always enjoying your review and patiently waiting for the next installment!

 

Catrin

[PaulMedik]

Mahogany Beach also has a few rental Kayaks or canoes, paddle boats, and water trikes for rent. The rental area is near the foot bridge and can be seen from the 'magic chairs.' The guy we rented from didn't mention any restrictions about where we could go, he just said to be sure and watch our times and that we could go as far as we liked as long as we were back on time.

 

We opted for a four person paddle boat and a glass bottom canoe. Here's Bryson leading us out;

 

 

Shortly after we launched there was a Mom and two kids cross in front of us at relatively high speed as they were sailing with the current;

 

 

The current wasn't kind to them since it lead them straight into dense foilage which caused the youngest child to begin screaming. They weren't in any danger, but I'm sure the youngster will remember that voyage forever;

 

 

 

In hindsight, we would have been better off with five kayak's instead of the slow paddle boat because Bryson paddled circles around us;

 

 

The boys each traded off and took turns in the kayak;

 

 

We made a circle out next to the ships and under the magic chairs. The current was strong paddling back from this location;

 

[PaulMedik]

After we finished our rides, Spencer tried out the trike and said he'd like to ride it next time;

 

 

This is a sight that a Father only enjoys seeing while on land;

 

 

PhotoOps and photo props are scattered throughout the grounds at Mahogany Beach;

 

 

We spent a few more hours laying in the sun before Bryson and Spencer returned to the ship. It's nice to have ports like Mahogany Beach Roatan where you can go and have a good time and still feel safe allowing teens to return to the ship alone.

 

The majority of the beach goers returned to the ship around the same time Bryson and Spencer left and it was much more relaxing having less people on the beach as karen and I walked down to explore the snorkeling pier area;

 

 

Snorkelers had a great view of the bottom, but you could see pretty well from the pier too;

 

 

Panorama of the beach, ships, and pier;

 

[PaulMedik]

When we ruturned to our chairs we discovered an extra camera laying on my chair;

 

 

It was a Sony video camera and looked to be brand new. There was nobody anywhere near us at this point and I wasn't looking forward to turning it in or looking for the owner so we left it laying there hoping someone would come back for it.

 

We lounged around for a while then took a walk back down to the far end to the seafood shack for some chips and conch;

 

 

 

Britt checking out the nearly empty beach;

 

 

Empty pier with mirror smooth water;

 

 

The cabanas were vacated by late in the day so we checked them out too;

 

 

We always rent a cabana on Half Moon Cay, and we will DEFINITELY rent one at Roatan on our next visit;

 

[PaulMedik]

The view from the cabanas;

 

 

Each caban also comes with a hammock, king size loungers on the beach, and security guards to keep your valuables safe;

 

 

If we'd have only known.......;

 

 

This is where we'll be next time;

 

 

With over an hour to go before time to be back on board, it was practically deserted;

 

 

Just a handful of people left on the beach as Britt and Karen wander along;

 

[jimbo5544]

Paul, we were just looking at excursions for our upcoming Dream cruise and considering the Cabanas. Thaks for posting the pics, you made the decision easier....

 

Jim

[PaulMedik]

We went back by our lounge chairs and the Sony camera was still there. I reviewed a video and remembered seeing two boys from the video a few hours earlier when they were taking pictures on turtles behind our chairs. I opted to take the camera with us to the ship and hoped to be able to find out who the owner was by the video. I considered leaving it at one of the bars, but knew the onwer stood a better chance of getting it back if I could find him by the videos on the camera. I also knew that only cruise ship passengers used Mahogany Beach so they had to be on our ship or on Princess.

 

Thank you for visiting Mahogany Beach as viewed from my seat on the magic chair;

 

 

Looking back toward Mahogany Beach;

 

 

Britt wielding six guns at one of the photo props along the way;

 

 

Karen and Britt talking about the day as we walked back to the ship;

 

 

It had been a great day at Mahogany Beach;

 

 

I don't know if there were lines earlier, but they were gone by the time we arrived back at the ship;

 

[PaulMedik]

Paul, we were just looking at excursions for our upcoming Dream cruise and considering the Cabanas. Thaks for posting the pics, you made the decision easier....

 

Jim

 

 

Jim,

 

The Cabanas are much nicer than the cabanas at Half Moon Cay, inlcude more amenities, and are actually the same price; $199. I was really surprized at the price.

 

The beach was very crowded when we arrived and it took us a while to find chairs. If we had reserved a cabana we could have walked right up and relaxed. I'd seen a few pics before, but didn't really expect the crowding to be as heavy as it was, but having a cabana will fix that issue completely.

 

Normally there's just one ship in port at Mahogany Beach so it isn't always as crowded. We discussed going to West End beach again, but there were four ships at the other pier and we were sure it would be more crowded than last year.

 

*******************************************************

 

 

Once back on board we stopped in to check on Bryson and Spencer. Bryson was relaxing in his customary location and Spencer was at a Circle C activity;

 

 

Anyone want to guess what he'd been doing;

 

 

It's always nice to return to a clean cool room;

 

 

Karen, Bryson, and I enjoyed a nice buffet dinner that evening while Britt and Spencer were at Camp activities. Bryson's mess was cleaned up while we were gone;

 

 

Karen and Bryson on the vacant dance floor;

 

 

'Secret door' at the front of deck six;

 

[PaulMedik]

Through the secret door toward the outer door;

 

 

 

We were planning to watch the Princess ship sail away;

 

 

After a while it was announced that we would be delayed in port due to the Princess ship being unable to leave the pier because of high winds. It was very dark outside, but the camera turned night into day;

 

 

The sunset lit a fire through the forest behind us;

 

 

[PaulMedik]

Blankets were being passed out on Lido;

 

 

Late night snack on Lido;

 

 

Towel animals had invaded our room when we returned along with capers for our next port stop of Belize;

 

 

The last announcement indicated we may leave Roatan at 2:00AM. We were due at Anchor in Belize at 7:00AM and since it's a short distance we still expected to anchor at Belize the next day.

 

We pulled out of Roatan around 8:00AM instead of 2:00AM and our scheduled stop at Belize was cancelled. The winds were gusty all night at Roatan so we weren't able to leave. The Princess ship sailed out in front of us. They were scheduled to stop in Cozumel, but I'm sure they missed their port too.

 

It was a very peaceful night on our balcony; I spent hours sitting out there listening to insects making whatever noise it is they make, birds chirping and dogs barking! How often do you get to sit on your ship's balcony at night and listen to dogs barking in the distance? It was an awesome night really! The ship itself made absolutely no noise! No engine noise, no sound of waves crashing or our wake churning up behind us. Very memorable.

 

They also opened the casino and shops at 10:30PM after Roatan sailaway was cancelled. I donated a few more $ to the casino.....

 

We had decided earlier in the week to make Belize a Fun day at sea with most of the passengers on shore, but instead of having a near empty ship, we had a FULL ship. Basically we had 4595 passengers on board with us.

 

The chair hogs most definately were on board Dream this week. I have pics of chair hogs numbering in the thousands....Entire sections of the ship have been taken over by them with no humans in sight. I didn't really have too much of an issue because we had our own balcony to retreat to, but I did hear many frustrated wannabe sun worshipers voicing their dismay at all the chair hog droppings.

 

The CD announced early that morning that each cabin would be credited $20 for having missed Belize. We received mail a little while ago indicating each passenger would receive $7.16 posted to their S&S accounts as a refund of Belize goverment fees and taxes along with automatic refunding for purchased excursions.

 

 

I think Dream would be ideally suited for a Southern Caribbean route out of San Juan or St Thomas with port stops every day. The deck areas are plentiful on port days, but days at sea are filled with too much time either avoiding people or hogged chairs.

 

After watching a few hours of video on the wayward video camera I was able to identify that they were from this ship, from Germany, and the names of three of the family of four. No last names though and the phone number that I thought I saw was part of a Sony advertisement. One video is of their meeting their room steward for the first time and he introduced himself, but as luck would have it, our steward didn't recognize him. As I was sitting in my cabin with the door open, the Hotel Director walked by. I summoned him in and showed him the video. He recognized the steward, but said he was new and didn't know his assigned area. We reviewed the video a few times and he called someone to locate the steward's phone extension. It turns out that he is assigned to deck 8 Forward. The Hotel Director then called him and had him come down to our cabin. When he arrived he immediately knew the people, their names, cabin numbers, and where they were from. We went to their room to return the camera, but they were out and about so he left it in their room for them. As it turns out, this is his first week on Dream, but his ninth contract with Carnival. BTW, his favorite ship is Conquest for all you Crazies! His name is either Arbus or Argus....I wasn't able to determine for sure, but anyone who has him as a steward, be sure and tell him that really the only way those people got their camera back was because he did his job well and they got it on video!

 

 

Here's our wake stretching to the horizon behind us as we sailed from Roatan to Costa Maya;

 

 

Wrist bands from Clip N Zip and the Magic Chairs still on my wrist the next morning;

 

 

The view through our balcony glass of the wake (The Lanai doesn't obstuct this view) ;

 

[talia-co]

i am very much enjoying your trip report. I'm to page 6. Thanks for the fantastic pictures!

 

One question. We are runners and would like to know if the treadmills face the ocean with unobstructed views. We have only been on RCCL where they do face out over the ocean and have enjoyed watching the sun set as we were running.

 

Any info is appreciated. Thanks!

[AndrewD65]

Such good pictures, it was very nice of you to track down the owners of that camera.

[OntCruise]

The chair hogs most definately were on board Dream this week. I have pics of chair hogs numbering in the thousands....Entire sections of the ship have been taken over by them with no humans in sight.

 

On our first two Carnival cruises we were really annoyed by the chair hogs... but this year we decided to take a different approach. We just simply moved the towels and made ourselves comfortable. Not once did anyone come back to the chairs while we were sitting in them. If they had returned in a reasonable time, I would have given back the chair but that never happened.

[BIG O in TEXAS]

Thank you so much for posting your great vacation review. You mentioned that you'll enjoyed the Spa Pass for the week. Did you purchase it for the week or the day pass? Was it crowded when you used the facilities? Thanks in advance for any further information on the SPA pass you can give. I'm sailing in August and was trying to decide if i should purchase it. Also can you pre-purchase it or do you have to wait until you or on board?

[jocpowell]

I'm like a little kid being read a great adventure. Everyday I look forward to the new chapter and photos. I log on, I hold my breath and am sooo disappointed if you haven't hide time to write. Waiting anxiously.

[jimbo5544]

Paul, you may have already mentioned this in the review.......but, what was your room number?